Fields of Endeavor

Lily Ong checks in with five enterprising individuals who are part of Endeavor—a global organisation seeking to sustain high-impact entrepreneurship worldwide

Aiming to support the next generation of Malaysian entrepreneurs, these five individuals share how Endeavor has helped shape and made them grow

At the back of a taxi cab in Buenos Aires, 20 years ago, American businesswoman Linda Rottenberg struck up a casual conversation with her driver during a business trip. She was shocked to discover from their chat that he held a PHD in engineering. Curious, she asked him why he did not think about becoming an entrepreneur. “An empresario?” the driver had asked in a dismissive tone—using the Spanish word for businessman. It was then that she realised that there was no Spanish word for entrepreneur. That incident sparked Linda to come up with the idea of creating a global platform to nurture high-impact entrepreneurs from developed countries outside of the US. She believes that there are plenty of untapped talents and minds around the world, like the aforementioned cab driver. Linda then contacted her friend Peter Kellner, who had just returned from a Harvard Business School trip to China, where he had witnessed first-hand the boom in entrepreneurship that would transform that country. Excited by the infinite possibilities of this idea, they sketched out a business plan that would eventually become

Endeavor Global, a worldwide non-profit organisation that identifies and aids entrepreneurs with the greatest potential for economic and social impact in their regions. The ‘business plan’ that began on the back of a napkin is now a shared vision, expanded by board members, staff as well as advisors around the globe. In 2013, Endeavor opened its first office in KL, with the intention of creating a selfsustaining ecosystem of entrepreneurial talent in the country. They started off by assembling a lineup of advisors and mentors to drive the initiative. As of 2019, Endeavor Malaysia’s list of mentors include entrepreneurs such as Azran Osman-rani and Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, alongside top corporate figures such as Raja Teh Maimunah and Datuk Zainal Amanshah from Investkl. These advisors play a crucial role in identifying Malaysian entrepreneurs with a potential to scale, then screening them through various stages before inducting them into the exclusive Endeavor Entrepreneurs network. We speak to Endeavor Malaysia’s managing director Arthur Chan about the non-profit’s latest programmes and initiatives, as well as four entrepreneurs who have grown significantly through Endeavor’s support.